Top demilitarization officials visit Hermiston

Hermiston Herald
June 26, 2001
By Frank Lockwood (F. Ellsworth Lockwood)
Staff writer

HERMISTON - Top Army demilitarization officials met with local citizens and leaders at the PMCD Army Outreach Office Wednesday morning to give an update and answer questions on chemical weapons demilitarization.

Army representatives included: James Bacon, the nation's program manager for chemical demilitarization; Henry "Hank" Dubin, acting deputy assistant secretary of the Army; and Christopher Lesniak, program manager for chemical stockpile disposal. The Army officials had come to review the demilitarization project at Umatilla Chemical Depot and to meet with National Research Council representatives who held a quarterly meeting here last week.

Bacon said he felt good about the progress here, Lesniak praised the Oregon DEQ as a "tough task master" ("But that's okay. I'm glad they are."), and Dubin promised to work within state environmental laws and to observe all state safety standards. Dubin assumed his present position in 1999. He holds a number of degrees including a Ph.D. in Chemical Physics. His technical background is too long to include in this article, but includes teaching Symbolic Logic, developing experimental and mathematical simulation methods for evaluating small arms and fragmenting munition effects, and testing and evaluating target acquisition systems. He has served as chief of Intelligence and and Electronic Warfare Branch of the Army Materiel Systems Analysis Activity, and as technical director for Operational Test and Evaluation Command. Internationally, Dubin led the US Joint War-games for bilateral studies with Germany on mine combat and was a leader in a ten-nation NATO anti-artillery study.

To the communities near chemical demilitarization sites, the Army is required to provide maximum protection. Dubin defined maximum protection as "striving for no impact." "Maximum protection means we do the best we can do," he said. On the other hand, the Army standards are much higher than other countries and, "If we leave that stuff out there, that's not maximum protection," he said. "The standard that has been stated for countries is no more than one out of a one-hundred-thousand chance that someone would die, in a year, from being around the chemical destruction process. "In our country we have a much higher standard, and ... with the numbers that we are working to, it is less than one out of a million chance that someone would be affected by it health wise."

Mayor Linda Fox of Irrigon asked how they could protect a farmer out in the field on a tractor. "We are struggling with that as well," Dubin said, "but (maximum protection) doesn't mean you aren't going to take any chances." The Army's "very structured process" will eliminate things in the project that do not work, he said, but destroying the rockets is a first priority. "The strategy is to get rid of the munitions and agents that are the most dangerous first," he said. "We have got to take care of the rockets first. That's part of the national strategy. We really want to maximize public safety and minimize risk to health and the environment."

Before the meeting, Chuck Norris, a former depot commander and former state representative, reminisced with Lesniak about the days when the depot's monitoring system consisted of placing rabbits in the storage units. If the rabbits died, gas was presumed present. "Maybe we should go back to that system," Norris quipped. A strong supporter of incineration, Norris asked, "How many laws can the state throw in the way (of incineration)?" How long before the federal government stands up to the state, he asked. "Do you have the jurisdiction and, if so, when will the federal government exercise it?" he asked.

Dubin answered, "We have the authority but we are not willing to exercise it." Instead, he said, the Army officials have enjoyed the cooperation and support of communities and want to continue working with them. The Army is not going to try to "bulldoze over" the state, he added.

According to Bacon, the PMCD has three chemical demilitarization goals:

1. Protect public health and safeguard the environment
2. Eliminate the chemical weapons stored here rapidly and safely
3. Fulfill a larger, national goal to eliminate all chemical weapons and our ability to produce them

Utah has already destroyed 5,100 tons of chemical weapons, he said. "That's more than are stored here," he noted. Furthermore, Bacon said he had seen no indications in Congress of a change in attitudes toward funding for chemical demilitarization. Though spending a million dollars a year always requires justification, the Army will have "plenty of opportunity" to prove the necessity, he said. Barring unforeseen events, Bacon told the Hermiston Herald, incineration will take four years, once started.

That, in spite of testimony to the contrary, when Craig Williams testified before a senate appropriations subcommittee, predicting that the Army would run years behind schedule. On the contrary, lessons learned at Johnston Atoll and in Tooele, Utah, would help achieve the goal, Bacon said. "We don't expect to leave any chemical weapons behind," Bacon said.

Wearing Hermiston's signature lapel pin, which depicts a slice of watermelon, Bacon noted that he enjoyed coming to Hermiston but hoped next time it could be during watermelon season.


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